Don't Leave
by omegafire17
Summary: As it turns out, saying a certain word means she's trying to say something else entirely. RenXNora, Rated T.


**Disclaimer:** Don't own RWBY or any of it's characters.

**Rating:** T

**Just a little New Years-y fluff, unconnected to my other RenXNora stories. Still, enjoy**

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><p><em>JNPR Dorm Room<em>

Moving the blanket a little, he blew on his mug, making sure it was just right before he drank from it.

"Taste just right, Ren?"

He finished drinking, then looked at Nora, who was curled up by his side with her own blanket. "I blended it myself" he said gently, to which she just smiled, snuggling against his side even more. He took a moment to look at the way the bright lights played across her face, before he glanced at his other side - the sleeping figures of Pyrrha and Jaune lay curled together, a little closer now than when they'd been awake. Even as he watched though, the lightbulbs started flickering briefly, as if the line was giving out.

"Mmm" she breathed against him, really soft. "You smell like pancakes, Ren."

He slightly raised an eyebrow, for a moment. "Everything smells like pancakes to you, Nora" he said, mild.

"True" she answered, matter-of-fact and cheerful. "But I like the smell better on you."

Okay... he wasn't even gonna pretend he knew what that meant. So, shaking his head a little, he continued to sip at his drink, Nora still leaning against him – ah, that was definitely a good blend. However, when he came back to himself, he realized Nora hadn't talked for at least half-a-minute, which while not unheard-of, was unusual. He glanced down, and found her just breathing against him.

Don't tell him she's fallen asleep already?

"Mmh, pancakes" she stirred.

Well, that answered that... *sigh*. Still, he made sure he would finish his drink before attempting to turn off the lights, along with sleep. As he did so, Nora continued making sounds, but he paid no real attention, as it wasn't that unusual.

"Boop."

A slight eyebrow raise at her, before sipping again. Just as he was about to set the mug down though, her noises became more organized, almost planned... probably one of her favorite songs. Though he had to admit, he hadn't heard her sleep-singing for awhile.

_"Never knew a time"_ she sung to herself, very soft, even in her sleep. _"When you weren't by my side."_

Hmm, he didn't think he'd heard this one before.

_"The one thing I could always count on._  
><em>Always been there for me, you've been my family.<em>  
><em>Even when all other hope was gone."<em>

Despite himself, he smiled a little, touched; she was talking about him.

_"But for a while things have seemed so different,_  
><em>Like it's the same but still brand new.<em>  
><em>I can't believe it, when did I start to fall for you?"<em>

He jolted, surprised; fall for him?

_"Have I lost my mind, have I just been blind,_  
><em>Never to have seen you might be.<em>  
><em>Everything I need, everything I dream,<em>  
><em>All along has it been right in front of me?<em>  
><em>We've been together a long long long long time.<em>  
><em>I never thought that you and I could be a thing.<em>  
><em>I can't believe it, this is happening.<em>

_I think oh whoa what am I to do_  
><em>I didn't know that I would fall in love with you,-"<em>

He made a sound, almost to the point of gasping – love him? He knew she'd always joke how they weren't 'together-together', but he never thought she'd been serious about it, or that it meant more than that. Even as he dealt with the shock though, Nora still continued with the song-

_"-And what to do right now I haven't got a clue._  
><em>I just bite my tongue and when I want to say I love you I say,<em>  
><em>Boop.<em>  
><em>Boop.<em>  
><em>Boop."<em>

After that, she went into one of those mid-song breaks, humming notes to herself – no doubt getting ready for the second set of lyrics. When she launched into those (starting with come join her at her castle, and that they'll crush their enemies; so like her), he still wasn't sure what to do, least yet. So, either for awhile or recently, she'd started to love him, but hadn't said anything about it. He could understand not wanting to drive him away or weird him out by doing anything... but the fact she hadn't mentioned it period was telling.

_"When I want to 'I love you'"_ he thought slowly, remembering the lyrics. _"I say... 'boop'."_

_Brrraaaa!_

_He looked around, not taking that as a Grimm sound-_

_Brrraaaa!_

_Then he glanced up, just in time to see a grinning Nora swing down from her spot in the tree, completely upside-down._

_He was barely surprised, lip curving. "I still don't think that's what a sloth sounds like" he told her mildly._

_She just tapped his nose, with a little smile. "Boop" she teased, still hanging, even as he had his little 'what am I gonna do with you' moment, smile included._

How did he feel about this?

While he tried to figure that, Nora kept going with her sleep song, right up till the end where she hummed herself back into breathing... least until she started to stir; her arms came up, stretching, one hitting him slightly.

"Mmm... what did I miss?" she breathed, blinking several times sleepily.

He slowly looked her over before he answered: "Not much" he said slowly.

"Hmm..." she breathed again, before resting her head against him, then only her breathing came after that. Unbelievably, she was asleep again, and remained that way – aside from a brief movement to snuggle closer to him.

Well, least he knew a few things; even with the revelation that she loved him, he didn't want to disturb her rest by getting up. And more than anything, he didn't want any type of relationship to ruin the depth of friendship that they already shared. Still, if this worked out, it'd mainly be the same as before (just better), but if it didn't- lot of different 'ifs' there. Clearly he needed to think, about a lot of things...

/

_The next morning_

Surprisingly, when he awoke (rather awkwardly), he was the first one up - still, he didn't let that stop him. Carefully moving Nora off him, who sleepily resisted every step of the way, he eventually got up by making sure she wrapped herself against the bed leg. He had to stifle a groan as his muscles creaked, having been hunched, but he took the time to thoroughly stretch them out; couldn't afford to seize up at a critical moment. As he did so, he noticed Jaune and Pyrrha had fallen over during the night, very close to each other's heads... inches away in fact.

Well, if they realized that after they awoke, things would be interesting.

Minutes otherwise passed as he went about this morning business-

"Mhh, oh pancakes... huh? Ren?"

"Over here" he merely said, having just finished getting things in order.

To no surprise, Nora was quick to disregard the blanket and get on the bed, laying on her stomach directly opposite him - she was grinning. "Well, this is a first" she teased, legs swinging back-and-forth. "Usually I'm the one waking you up, quite loudly at that, just how you like it Ren!"

He gave her a slight look, sitting up properly. "Usually" he merely said.

She laughed, getting even closer as she was want to do, still grinning. "But, first time for everything, again" she whispered playfully, before pulling away to do something - however, he kept her from going by a grip on her wrist. This jerked her, before she looked back, entirely surprised and confused-

"We need to talk."

She slowly groaned. "Okay, what did I do now, Ren?" she said dramatically, like this was normal, at least in the sense she was thinking it was. When a full minute passed by and he said nothing, she slowly blinked, looking at him. "Ren?"

His grip tightened slightly, before slowly moving from her wrist to the very brink of her palm. "'Never knew a time, when you weren't by my side'" he said, not quite like his usual tone, but not trying to sing either.

Nora jolted when he said those words, but more than anything, she seemed confused as she looked at him; hmm, guess he needed more lyrics.

"The one thing I could always count on" he continued, pretty sure he wasn't doing any part of the song justice. "Always been there for me, you've been my family, even when all other hope was gone."

As he continued, Nora's confusion slowly (very slowly) morphed more into 'wait, that seems familiar', before a brief flash of recognition, followed by horrified realization that if he knew those lyrics, then he must know about 'that'. When that last part happened, she actually gasped, instinctively trying to pull away from him (he kept his grip on her wrist without looking; not letting her go yet). "Ren! I-uh-I can explain!" she said in a hurry, panicking. "I just-!"

"Love me" he finished. "I know."

At that, she froze, looking at him fearfully.

He found himself hating that look, especially since it was plain unheard-of for her. "Look, Nora" he tried to say, hitching. "I just want to say-"

Her sudden wraparound hug stopped from saying anything.

"Don't leave me, Ren" she breathed, shaking. "Please."

Damn, her fear of him rejecting her ran that deep? Really worried now, he hugged her back, really close to him - she just continued to shake.

"I'm not leaving you, Nora" he said gently, soft even. "You're my friend."

At that, she broke apart from him just enough to look at him, her eyes teary. Or rather, they were threatening to be; nothing had fallen yet - but even their existence was unlike her, and again it bothered him, a lot. Not just as her friend, he subtly realized...

Slowly, very slowly, he traced a finger along the fringes of her hair - however, only her eyes moved; otherwise she was still.

"That always meant a lot, no matter what" he continued. "I can't just ignore this."

"You mean you're not-?" she breathed quickly.

"I'm not saying no" he merely said.

It was as if he'd flicked a switch; the tears promptly vanished, and that crazy grin of hers light her up from the inside. However, unlike most times, she knew of their still-sleeping teammates and the late hour, and so had to settle for a highly-acrobatic set of movements, and many many little muffled squeals. So there he sat, barely noticing as she went nuts across the room, waiting for her to settle. He counted at least three minutes had gone by before it happened-

"Can I-?" she asked brightly, but quietly (for her), before briefly clapping a hand over her mouth. "I mean, well, uh, what does this mean for us, Ren? You've said 'no' to no, but you haven't said 'yes' to yes either."

"...true" he said faintly. "I'll need time to adjust, but... you'll still have some leeway."

"In what way?" she asked quickly, getting really close to him, her face inches away. Most people would have been disturbed by the violation of personal space, but he'd long since gotten used to Nora doing stuff like this - so he merely looked at her, trying to decide what he felt in that new way. He found he liked the way she blinked, and the color of her eyes, both likes being mild but there. Hmm, so far so good...

"You can still kiss me" he said carefully. "But _only_ quick ones, and _only_ in private, until I say otherwise."

Nora tried to explode with happiness... she just barely managed to express it quietly, shaking, hitting stuff and otherwise flailing around on the bed (he had to quickly look away to avoid a 'view' on that last one). It lasted a good amount of seconds before she stopped, leaning forward again. "Wait, that's good, but we've haven't kissed yet" she said teasingly, tapping his head with a finger. "Remember?"

"I know."

At that, he very slowly leaned forward, which she saw, quickly looking back at him. He noted how unnaturally still she was being, which also bothered him, given he was used to (even expected) Nora to be energetic. Anyway, he continued to lean forward, until he was inches away, then he paused, slowly letting them feel each other's breath. During that pause, Nora realized what he was about to do, and he saw signs that she was fiercely holding herself back. He knew it wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

"Ren" she breathed, very soft, but also shy. "I- Can I-?"

"Let me try first, okay?"

"Okay."

After that, he slowly closed the gap between them.

Her lips moved slightly in response, but otherwise didn't do anything, apparently to let him try first - in the meantime, he found himself slowly liking the way they felt soft. After a few seconds of this, he pulled back, seeing her cheeks red- no wait, those were always there.

"Oh..."

He glanced at Nora, seeing her practically 'dreamy' about the kiss, but also a lot more elements bubbling under the surface. Almost explosively so...

Slowly, he prepared himself, knowing this was inevitable: "Alright" he breathed, sighing. "Hit me with it, Nora, while they're still asleep."

The moment he finished, in a split-second, Nora pressed herself against him as tight as could be - and that was before her lips touched his again. The intensity was startling, as if trying to get years worth of only-friendship out of the way in seconds. To his heavy shock, she was practically moaning, and then it only got 'worse' when her tongue touched his mouth... but thankfully that just included licking in and around, rather than trying to get in. She was moving so fast and lovingly he couldn't begin to make sense of it, much less respond in any appropriate way, but she didn't seem to mind.

Probably had trouble breathing at a few points; Nora had a _lot_ of built-up affection. He did his best to return it after the shock, by holding her if nothing else - it still thrilled her.

When she stopped, he needed several shuddering breaths, but just for the intensity - Nora, surprisingly, was the same. In the background, perhaps they'd been louder than they'd thought, because Jaune and Pyrrha were starting to wake up.

He touched his fingers to his mouth for a few moments, looking at her. "...why didn't you ever tell me?" he asked, wondering.

Her grin was sheepish. "Well, you know, I never knew how to say it" she breathed, just sitting there, even as Jaune and Pyrrha instinctively freaked out from the fact that they were so close to each other in the background. "Or how you'd react."

Raising an eyebrow, he managed a smile. "_You_ didn't know what to say, Nora?" he asked, almost teasing.

She stuck her tongue out briefly. "Yeeeaaaahhh."

Wow, the irony of it all.

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><p><strong>For those wondering where the song came from, yes it wasn't played on the show itself, but it IS on the Vol. 2 Soundtrack, under the name of 'Boop', appropriately lol. And you can listen to it on RWBY's wiki + written lyrics (only half of which are in this fic), so go nuts.<br>**

**But anyway, if it wasn't already clear (or you had doubts), this friendship has a lot more going to it than just that :P Ren's feelings remain unstated, but time will tell... hehehe**


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